Psychotropic Drug Dependence in Scotland: Petition PE01651

I wanted to let you know that our Scottish petition seems to be gathering a very remarkable and powerful collection of published ‘evidence’ of patient experiences especially – and from all over the world!

The petitions clerks are being kept busy with ‘processing’ these and uploading to the petition webpage – and there are many more yet to come….

The meeting on 18 January – with Maureen Watt (Minister for MH) and John Mitchell (PMO and Psychiatry adviser to Govt.) giving evidence – left me feeling stunned. I wonder if you saw anything of it? Only now am I beginning to see that our petition webpage is actually a tremendously valuable (and indeed unusual) collection of formally published evidence… and steadily gathering more evidence as we proceed.

Could you comment on whether you accept the following statements that were given to us in evidence? The first statement is:

“Ten per cent of the population of Scotland takes an antidepressant on prescription. Of those between 80 and 90% are on treatment for more than a year – many for over a decade.”

Is that because it is good treatment, or because people are dependent?

The second statement is:

“At present rates of antidepressant use among adolescents in Scotland, especially among women, is rocketing. These drugs are or are on their way to being the most commonly used prescription drugs by Scottish adolescents.”

I do not recognise much of that. Antidepressants are certainly a commonly used medication. The guidance for treating depression says that if someone who is experiencing their first depression goes on antidepressants and the medication works for them, they should stay on it for six months before they come off it. If they have a recurrence of the depression, they should stay on the medication for two years. That guidance is internationally accepted and based on evidence.

For effective treatment of people with depression, if people respond to the drugs, they should be on them for that sort of timescale. They are not effective if they are used only for a month or for two months.

I grant that the study that was done on the prescribing of antidepressants is now six years old, but it indicated that the longer and more appropriate periods of time were being applied by GPs. It was new prescriptions of antidepressants and what happened to them that were being examined.

So ….

We now have a deadline of 15 February for the next tranche of submissions – if they are to be considered in advance of planning the next Petition Committee hearing (date as yet unscheduled).

If you – and /or anyone else that you know of who may be interested – would like to make a (further) submission (send to petitions@parliament.scot – max 3 A4 pages and quoting ref: PE01651 in subject line) this would be welcomed.

It would seem that our Scottish petition is building to a very valuable resource for research – if you know of anyone interested in this area of research?

What you can do

Where linked to healthcare or someone who has been put on antidepressant or related psychotropic drug, go on the website above and make a submission. You can be from anywhere in the world.

In the case of someone previously on treatment and disabled by withdrawal effects it might be simply to say for instance that there is the extra indignity of being deemed well and fit to work because you have come off treatment when in fact you might be quite incapable of work because of withdrawal effects. The committee needs to answer questions like – should I continue damaging myself in order to get further independence payments.

Original Healy submission

Dear Colleagues

Ten per cent of the population of Scotland takes an antidepressant on prescription. Of those between 80 and 90% are on treatment for more than a year – many for over a decade. When the latest antidepressants were introduced around 1990 the recommendation was that they would be used for 3-6 months. Apologists for the drugs say treatment for over a year is a good thing. Its not. Its caused by dependence and it continues because so many people attempting to stop feel so bad they continue with treatment.

The marketing of these drugs targeted women of child-bearing years, although companies knew from the start the drugs were likely to lead to dependence and to birth defects, from major organ defects to behaviour abnormalities such as autistic spectrum disorder.

While treatments can be helpful, the evidence for true benefits when used in general practice is missing. The drugs are now the most commonly used medications by women in their teens and early twenties, the child-bearing years, and in these age groups there is no evidence for benefit. Because of the dependence the drugs cause, many young women are trapped into pregnancies in which their unborn babies are exposed to a teratogen because stopping is so difficult. There is no benefit to the woman for the most part or her child in any instance.

For all too many, women in particular, antidepressants turn out to be a gateway drug, into treatment with mood-stabilizers and other drugs or for antidepressant induced alcoholism or antidepressant induced osteoporosis or other conditions.

There is a pressing need to understand antidepressant dependence – how to avoid it and how best to manage it.

At present rates of antidepressant use among adolescents in Scotland, especially among women, is rocketing. These drugs are or are on their way to being the most commonly used prescription drugs by Scottish adolescents. There is no evidence of efficacy to support this use and compelling evidence for harms, especially self-harm.

Linked into the above, there is a further factor to bear in mind which is that pretty well the entire literature on these drugs is ghost-written, with the brief of the ghost-writers being to produce good marketing copy. There is no access to any of the data behind studies that may have been undertaken on these drugs, some of which have been conducted in Scotland. The MHRA have not seen the raw data and the Scottish Parliament cannot get access to the data behind these studies should Parliament request it. You should judge any comments of doctors or others apparently supporting the use of antidepressants against this background.

Further submission

In response to MB’s request above I will be making a further submission. Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) is highly relevant here. In the case of the antidepressants, PSSD is a legacy effect. It commonly appears on withdrawal. It is likely only one of several legacy effects. Akathisia can also occur as a legacy effect.

In promoting research on PSSD and persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), the RxISK Prize is also looking at dependence and withdrawal as well as akathisia and suicide. It is quite likely that the changes that give rise to enduring sexual dysfunction give rise to enduring withdrawal also and that the onset of post antidepressant PGAD maps onto post antidepressant akathisia and suicidality.

So raising concerns about dependence and withdrawal effects is a way to go for anyone suffering from PSSD and PGAD. And contributing to the RxISK Prize is something to consider for anyone trying to find an answer to the problems of dependence and akathisia.

There is a significant difficulty for anyone suffering from PSSD and PGAD in this respect. Few sufferers want to lose the cloak of anonymity. If anyone has any brainwaves in respect of this petition – ways to expose Scottish ministers and their advisers to the horrors of PSSD or PGAD – we’d love to hear them. This would be a good place to get these concerns on the record.

The clerks are helpful … though say that it is taking a little while to work their way through submissions, according to the rules they have to comply with. There is a phone number UK 0131 348 5254 for enquiries about submissions.

Streetphotobeing – I am reading Lost Connections now – it is a genuinely powerful and compelling read, as is his previous book Chasing the Scream. Johann is an extremely talented writer and communicator who has an audience of millions around the world. This makes him a threat to psych/pharma in a way that not many have managed to date. Have you noticed how he is being roundly trashed in the liberal media? Led by UK Psychiatry, the “experts” are falling over each other to discredit him, and this message is filtering down to the masses via Twiiter and blogs. Now, by and large, Psychiatry’s first line strategy is to ignore/refuse to be drawn – only a real threat is met with an offensive like this – they are running scared. Their tactics will backfire – there is nothing like controversy to promote a book. More power to Johann Hari and Lost Connections!

David, I guess a good place to start ( obviously with permission from them beforehand) would be by collating ‘Spruce’ and ‘Daryl’ ‘s comments to previous blog posts, where they explain so well what has happened to them, and present those as ‘real life experiences’ with no names attached. Their sincerity should melt the hardest of Scottish hearts.

I have sent them my written account asking to add it to the list of accounts. Just in case it never is… here it is

“I was 9 years old around the year 1999/2000 when I was diagnosed with OCD and Tourettes Syndrome and dragged away to a child mental hospital institution in South London, Collingham Gardens, Chelsea and Kensington. I have attached a picture of the padded cell I was routinely restrained in because no expert that compulsory advocated ‘medication’ as treatment could realise that ‘medications’ was creating a hormonally irrational out of character child.

(Despite the pregnant like weight gain and mood swings.)

Me and My Family were brainwashed and indoctrinated by experts across the board, including the Maudsley OCD and Tourettes Syndrome Centre, Collingham Gardens and all medical professionals local GP and Psychiatrists, Child Psychiatrists by a ‘mental health’ industry mantra. That I needed to be ‘treated’ by ‘medications’ unquestionably, for life.

This indoctrination included Cartoon propaganda videos at 9 years old that there was an inbuilt malfunction inside my brain with serotonin receptors that pulse too fast and the only way to keep this corrected would be to take GlaxoSmithKlines product Seroxat. This propaganda was a joint operation between my National Health Service (NHS) and GlaxosmithKline.

This indoctrination also included a lack of, in fact complete absence of, written informed consent on the leaflets of the permanent dangers I would later have to face. It in contrast was pushed all around the board of experts that these drugs were safe and necessary. And could be easily withdrawn without further problems, if problems arose. A lot of coercion was used to make my family and mum agree to the, now known to be, religiously pseudo-scientific ‘mental health’ ideology founded upon Eugenics and it’s decision to treat me with ‘medications’, through the National Health System (NHS).

Every National Health Service (NHS) Mental Health Facility I have ever visited or been in has never given as much as verbal informed consent of the psychiatric drugs they prescribe and withdrawal or the permanent harms. Patients are punished, frowned upon and quickly dismissed for not partaking in their encouraged drug policy. And in fact will not offer any inpatient ‘help’/’service’ discriminately unless you take their drugs.

This treatment resulted in social, educational and environmental alienation as a child. Emotionally and aggressively uncharacteristic arguments and separation with my beloved little brother and sister, withdrawal and affectance of my recreational health sporting ability and participation through ungaitliness and weight gain through ‘the medications’. Educational restrictions qualification wise through special educational school. Environmentally physically removed from my local community for being different, missing out on friendships and communal activity, easily singled out for alienation and bullying as a result. Additionally made worse by the fact the ‘medication’ drugs noticeably bestranged my character through wild homonal and disruptive poisoning.

As an adult at 21 years old the physical harms of withdrawal disrupted my participation in work (and life in general). A very unexpected traumatical attack on my wellbeing. The

nightmare of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), that’s permanent irreversible sexual dysfunction from psychiatric drugs has degraded my life and my rights to live as a full human being beyond comprehension. Permanent bowel digestive damage, involving uncontrollable pain, swelling, ungaitliness and farting from inability to still digest normal food. Increased permanent inability to concentrate and anxiety lasting from the withdrawal, leaving me lost and unable to count in public affecting my confidence in socially communicating for simple things at basic levels. Permanent eye disease Meibomian gland dysfunction from the psychiatric drugs causing significant distress and dysfunction in my daily living. By far all above else the PSSD (Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction) from the psychiatric drugs eclipses all the other permanent harms in degrading destructive havoc that has taken away from me living as a full functioning human being with human rights. I cannot even express how degrading and harmful this invasive assault has impacted my life on an every day basis, just how degraded this destroyed me as an young man, an adult, or an human being. PSSD.

There was no help regarding seeking accurate information regarding the damages the ‘mental health’ drug prescribing had caused, oppositely ridicule, offering more drugs, threatening imprisonment and forced drugging and character defamation. There was no help in the same ‘mental health’ facilities regarding legal assistance or compensation coping with the induced harms associated with their mass scale drug encouraging and prescribing. My family received no help in assisting me with the loss of my independence and physical and traumatical harms and were in the dark and as helpless as I was. And they tried to discharge me as I lay dying on a hospital bed attempting to cure myself from a lifetime of incomprehensible prescribed induced harms.

I or my family have received no apology.

I have no legal or human rights. Additionally human rights organisations like amnesty international refuse to get involved in or help people in the west with ‘mental health’. An industry founded upon the basis of unproven Eugenics ‘science’.

All this despite a prestigious Neuro-Urology team at Queens Hospital, London confirming the psychiatric drugs induced an irreversible Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD). An adverse effect charity’s campaign on PSSD ran by a Professor raising $35,000 US Dollars in search for a cure for PSSD for thousands around the world reporting the little known term PSSD across the world. The fact that the 2 main classes of psychiatric drugs are used to chemically castrate paedophiles that receive informed consent for it. The only other alternative method being used was direct hormonal injections.

I just want to live a full human life without interference for one day of my adult life. Eugenics’ brainchild ‘mental health’ and the co-operation and corrupted defence of the drug regulation agencies that were supposed to protect me robbed me of this.

Daryl Brown

28 years old

London England

PS: Attachment is another child in the padded cell I was in from 9 years old with their head and name scrubbed. We called it ‘the cosy room’ and also played in it…
“

While looking for Human Rights Organisations I came across ‘The Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights’ which was co founded by Thomas Satz psychiatrist and the Church of Scientology .Thomas Satz is of course celebrated as one of the first to speak out against the abuses of psychiatry including the abuse of over prescribing drugs. He influenced many in user-survivor movements. He is not a follower of scientology practices and beliefs but was open minded enough it seems to see that The Commission on Human Rights was a needed project to deal with specific Rights in Mental Health. . Scientology has to say the least a controversial reputation which tarrs the reputation of the commission. I knew they were involved in anti psychiatry work as I did part of a very bizarre and what could be intimidating short course out of curiosity decades ago but this org is new to me ,although it was founded 1969. No government or professional body is likely to listen to the work of the Commission because it lacks credibility as an arm of the Church of Scientology but the information on their site includes an invitation to submit first hand accounts which may be a useful addition to the record being colllated of harms being caused by prescription drugs. That they are still functioning decades after being founded and campaigning with others on the same issues probably shows how much power the medical and pharmaceutical professions wield. Back in the 70’s there was quite a lot of optimism around changing psychiatry to in Thomas Satx words ‘respect individuals’ autonomy’ Useful information though may be found in surprising places. I am not naive about the relationship of this commission with scientology but It is perhaps worth a look now there seems to be a snowballing of collective action and increasingly amazing people speaking out .

I wish i could take it away for you daryl I realy do and all these other people that have been through so much you must be a realy strong person remember that I think we have the true spirit off warriors to endure all this and still go on the human spirit can conquer most things with time and we must not give up and let these b@@tards win.

So at a conservative estimate there are several thousand people in Scotland at real risk of going mad and killing themselves (from Akathisia as a result of going to their doctors for help). And after the event, the doctor won’t even know what’s happened.

In answer to Fiachra’s question, “does the average GP prescribing antidepressants in the UK or Scotland know anything about akathisia?”
– well, from our experience the answer is definitely NO.
Since the death of our son from a combination of RoAccutane (for acne but a chemo drug too) and over time, multiple antidepressants given for the laughingly termed ‘low mood’ that RoAccutane (isotretinoin) normally triggers in almost all who take it, we have consistently asked every GP we’ve come across, ‘do you know what AKATHISIA is, our son died because it became unbearable?’ We’ve asked GPs in other practices, every hospital consultant we’ve met, every paramedic, ambulance crew and every Mental Health carers group, NHS stakeholders’ Locality Forums, Wellbeing Hub (NHS signposting organisation) and of course the general public. NOT ONE OF THESE INDIVIDUALS HAD EVER HEARD OF AKATHISIA. So we took to carrying a sign with large letters on it to flash up in front of them, as we delivered our informative little speech to enlighten them. And guess what – the public were interested, the Mental Health groups were guardedly ‘iffy’, the NHS Locality Forum wouldn’t let us talk about it, we started but they shut us up, and interestingly ours has now been disbanded (not entirely due to us surely but that avenue of communication is now lost). Ambulance crews have been good and alert and open minded, Samaritans not very impressed, and our local MIND gave the impression of dismissing much of what we said and wanting us to desist.
So, there’s our answer, AKATHISIA seems to be an uncomfortable subject that the medical/health community hope will go away, maybe because if it becomes generally accepted as the enormous killer that it is, never mind being the ruiner of countless lives, the dam will start to burst, and THEN where will they all be, prescribers and Pharma, washed away in the massive deluge of water. And, in the words of one particularly unenlightened psychiatrist who ‘treated’ our son, ‘they will have done it to themselves’. But, HOW MANY MORE WILL HAVE DIED WHILST WE WAIT?

When I showed my own GP in Central London the documentary evidence of my historical and Suicidasl Akathisia he began to sweat and by the end of the interview his shirt was left sticking to his body. He was terrified.

Nevertheless, a few months later he was attempting to block reference to Akithisia from my records.

Ultimately the fact that Psychiatric Drugs are killing people and “doctors” are covering this up will be exposed. In the same way that Dr Shipman was exposed.

The guidance, the guidance, the guidance, if the guidance said go play in the traffic then these academic giants would simply tell people to go play in the traffic without giving it a second thought.

Dr Mitchell how does one differentiate between withdrawal symptoms and a recurrence of depression? Or i guess there is no such thing as withdrawal symptoms right. Maybe this is where you quote the guidance and say discontinuation syndrome is mild and short lived right. Why is relapse the default option.

“That guidance is internationally accepted and based on evidence.”
Based on what evidence Dr Mitchell…got a study for that.

“They are not effective if they are used only for a month or for two months.”
So if these drugs are not effective for only one or two months then how come the drug trials only went for 4-6 weeks.

The Welsh petition is newer than the Scottish one and has only been discussed briefly twice so far. At the last meeting the Committee agreed they would now like to have input from people affected by prescribed drug dependence. I talked to the Petitions Team today to find out what their thoughts are as to how to capture the stories. They have yet to decide whether to open it up in the same way as in Scotland and encourage as many people as possible to write to them, or to collaborate with the Scots and use the submissions posted on their website as a resource for the Welsh petition, or perhaps have some sort of reduced input that gives them a flavour. I hope to hear further from them by the end of the week. In the meantime, at a political level, the issues are about getting antidepressants, particularly SSRIs, targeted for reduction in prescribing in Wales (as has already been achieved with anxiolytics and hypnotics), plus a Wales-wide Prescribed Medication Counselling and Support service (to mirror the small existing service in North Wales). Government policy is for people with prescribed drug dependency to go to their local Substance Misuse service. I am patiently and repetitively telling them just how inappropriate that is! Suffice it to say all support is invaluable. Thank you so much.

I have been campaigning on prescribed drug dependence in Scotland for about two years along with Marion Brown and have contributed to above petition. The figure for antidepressant prescribing is now around 875,000 in a population of approx 5,373,000 so the percentage is now higher than 1 in 10. I too was deeply dismayed by the responses from Dr John Mitchell, Consultant Psychiatrist and Government Adviser and Maureen Watt, Minister for Mental Health. I hope that many will take this opportunity to submit a written statement to Scottish Parliament as we feel we have a chance here of making some positive difference. If one country can make headway with this then others can perhaps also make some headway.

Please see the attached letter from Dr David Healy, Professor in Psychiatry, Bangor, in support of my assertion that the reduction of antidepressant prescribing should be Welsh Government policy.

Dr Healy has been the expert medical witness in a number of trials in the US about the harms done to individuals by antidepressant medication, particularly the SSRIs. He states: “There is a pressing need to understand antidepressant dependence – how to avoid it and how to manage it. This is a more serious problem than benzodiazepine dependence”.

A quote from BMC Medical Practice, February 2017 provides the most comprehensive list of my withdrawal symptoms that I have seen in one place: “Recent studies on BDS [Bodily Distress Syndrome] suggest that central sensitisation not only results in multiple symptoms; it may also prompt several specific symptom patterns described by arousal and/or exhaustion symptoms. These symptoms cluster in four groups:

I used liquid Seroxat but struggled to find syringes that had small enough measurements to effectively and safely reduce.

The patient/doctor relationship is hugely damaged by the refusal to believe a patient’s own assessment of the effects of their medication. It is upsetting and inhuman, and potentially leads to further drug interventions, generally of a psychiatric nature.

To clarify – The Scottish Parliament petitions clerks are accepting written submissions by email to petitions@parliament.scot – max approx 3 normal pages of text and quoting ref: PE 01651 in subject line
The petitions clerks check over all submissions – and publish once they have checked with sender by email (this can take a while) about any details that may need clarified or anonymised.
These are the official ‘rules’ http://www.parliament.scot/help/31037.aspx – so names of identifiable people and institutions etc. will likely be asked to be changed to ‘my doctor’, ‘the psychiatrist’, ‘the hospital’ etc ….

The clerks are helpful … though say that it is taking a little while to work their way through submissions, according to the rules they have to comply with.
(There is a phone number UK 0131 348 5254 for enquiries about submissions).

I have a lost dear soul: – terribly injured by SSRIs pedalled by a GP for life’s normal challenges: – college and exam stress. (Never-ever depressed – endless fun, smiles, laughter and joy)!

The intense SSRI induced AKATHISIA was misdiagnosed as psychotic depression.
False imprisonment followed via serial section.
Next, bullying, intense cruelty, ADRs interpreted as manipulative behaviour to be punished remorselessly.
Then an enforced carousel of inappropriate, fraudulently-licensed, neurotoxic psychotropic drugs imposed, and a beautiful and enchanting life was destroyed with multi-systems prescription drug injuries.

We tried to reason with them and begged them not to worsen the tardive dyskinesia.
The resulting experience of psychiatrist-retribution resulted in even worse injury.
The valid fear of further retribution still exists.

Once mis-diagnosed and falsely labelled as “S.M.I.” – there is no longer the care, concern or interest from the GP or hospital doctors.
Hence those injured by psychiatry are subsequently denied safe and effective medical care across the entire health-care spectrum.

It appears that it is not possible to provide the Scottish Government with the experience of catastrophic misdiagnosis, abuse, bullying, institutionalised cruelty and iatrogenic psychotropic drug devastation without identification and exposure to further retribution.

Being a Registered Medical Practitioner affords me and my family even greater risk of retribution, and little chance of being listened to.

Tim I am so sorry. I have been trying to raise the issue amongst/within the medical profession itself at the very top too (have even been privately see RMBF and BMA represntatives specifically about my deep concerns…).
Your story is so important.
It is possible to submit anonymously – or maybe better, in your case, ‘for Committee eyes only’? – for this Scottish petition if you felt able to and wanted to do this. How many others have experiences that they can’t speak about for fear of retribution?
I fear there will be a great many ….

Tim – your story is so important. And so many people are being silenced.
It is permissible to submit anonymously for the Scottish Petition (you will see that there are many ‘anonymous’ submissions published already).
It is also possible to submit an account ‘for Committee eyes only’ (i.e. not published on the petition webpage at all), if you wish to do this.

I started taking Citalopram in 2006 (for depression and insomnia, as far as I can remember, no anxiety attacks, no panic attacks) and then off and on until 2011 when I went back on it for anxious feelings. Reinstating relieved those symptoms.

I noticed, though, that during 2011 and 2012 I was very tired most of the time and felt less energetic or strong as I had previously. Because of personal circumstances (caring for my mother and her eventual death in 2012) I thought that this could be the cause of the tiredness.

In 2013 I was still dogged by tiredness and a lot of yawning and reported it to my doctor. The doctor suggested trying another anti-depressant. From early 2013-mid 2014, I was taken through a series of meds: Sertraline, Effexor, Fluoxetine and Mirtazapine.

From Effexor on, I had intolerable side effects and by the time I got to the Mirtazapine I was experiencing horrific insomnia, anxiety, black circles under eyes, exhaustion, dizziness, panic attack, headaches, sore eyes and hot face. I could barely sit in a room with other people and participate in meetings at work and I became extra-sensitive to noises and crowds. At one point I was so ill with these symptoms I was taken to an emergency doctor and given Lorazepam, which calmed me down.

In July 2014 I stopped the Mirtazapine cold turkey as I couldn’t continue to take them because of the monumental the side-effects. I didn’t know about withdrawal effects then and went through a frightening acute withdrawal, which felt like I was being fried inside, hooked up to an electric circuit. The acute symptoms stopped after a few days and I thought I had weathered the storm. But then I began to have symptoms – dizziness, nausea, anxiety and more – that came intermittently in waves of varying severity.

By this time I was searching the internet and discovered that others were experiencing what was happening to me. I learned about “waves” and “windows” and that, with time, the windows of “normal-ness” would become more than the waves of symptoms. I ventured on, med-free, dealing with the symptoms, still managing to work but feeling pretty bad much of the time. I even had a period when I had such increased need to urinate, I could barely travel the hour it took to get home without stopping to find a toilet. I reported all these symptoms over this time to my Dr.

In February 2016, after having bad anxiety attacks, I went to my doctor and, though I didn’t really want to start taking these drugs again, agreed to reinstate on Fluoxetine, in the hope that it would stabilise me. The Dr saw these symptoms as a resurgence of the depression (though I’d never had anxiety or panic attacks before starting with Citalopram in 2006) and dismissed the idea that I was having long-term post withdrawal effects. The Fluoxetine experience was dreadful – bad gastro effects, insomnia, anxiety etc.. In July 2016 I did a fast-ish taper off under the Dr’s supervision.
I was anti-depressant med free from July 2016 – February 2017.

Life was difficult and uncomfortable – symptoms that persisted during this time were –
dizziness, unsteady on feet, blood rush from the head on standing (near fainting), sore stomach (hollow, very hungry feeling), gripey wind, heart palpitations, tiredness/exhaustion, tension, on edge, frightening anxiety episodes, sensitivity to noise, other people and stress, tinnitus, dry mouth and sore eyes. But I managed to keep working and given what I’d found out through the internet, I saw them as part of the process of my system restoring itself.

Over xmas 2016 I had a severe panic attack when caught in a traffic jam and then in January 2017 I had another severe panic attack after a run. Again, panic attacks were not part of my “condition” when I first started with Citalopram in 2006. In January 2017 I reported a list of these symptoms to my Dr, who suggested she would research any conditions that would cause these symptoms. I heard nothing back from her.

In late January, after the panic attack, my body “collapsed” on me. One day I woke up and felt very dizzy, shaky and wobbly-legged and nauseous, finding walking very difficult.

Since then, I’ve experienced intense suicidal anxiety and insomnia, continued weak-feeling legs (I use walking sticks to help), dizziness, increased frequency of urination and a burning bladder, increased tinnitus. It really seems like there have been so many symptoms it’s hard to write them all down.
I haven’t been able to work full-time, have relied on the generous help from friends to go shopping with me or take me to appointments or out for walks and have been unable to drive many times through fear of fainting.

In February 2017 I was referred to a Psychiatrist who, after a 20 minute consultation, decided that my condition was due to missing my mum. I had taken in a written account of the cycle of anti-depressants in 2013-2014 and the symptoms since then and asked if the recent events could be the result of adverse effects from that period, given that it all started for me from that point. He flatly dismissed it as a cause. He told me that at first he thought I had a psycho-social depression but later on decided that I had a biological depression because of my gait.

Since February 2017, I have been on Escitalopram (up to 10mg) and Nortiptyline (up to 90mg) with benzodiazepines to help with the suicidal anxiety. These have helped to even things out a bit but I still have wobbly, weak legs and dizzy feelings, along with low-level anxiety. Both the doctor and psychiatrist have psychologised the weak, wobbly legs as somatic manifestations of the “depression” but I know something is physically amiss.

In June 2017, the psychiatrist tried me on Lithium, which produced instant insomnia, headaches, utter dryness and more wobbly legs. I stopped within a week. The psychiatrist suggested that I stay on the original drugs until I stabilise, then look at whether more drugs are added (eg. anti-psychotics) or reinstate talk therapy to get down to the “root” of what is causing this “major depression”. I am more than frustrated that this is how my situation is being analysed and fearful of further medication, or the ECT that the psychiatrist has brought into the conversation as a possible intervention.

Life has turned upside down for me, I feel as though I have been taken to an alien planet. From a woman who walked five-hour hikes, did gym sessions and yoga (when the symptoms permitted), I am now walking with sticks to help me and feel muscle tiredness at low levels of exertion. I am working part-time from home and go onto the office when I can, though it is utterly tiring and nerve-racking due to the weak, wobbly legs. I turned 60 this year and I fear that the drugs have damaged me to a point where there is no return to the me I used to be. I also have the withdrawal from the benzodiazepines to go through.

Despite the positive messages I, my friends and the Drs give me, I am living with the uncertainty that I will recover to a “normal” life of full-time work, social activities and independence. The financial and social implications are frightening.

Thank you for all new submissions and suggestions.
All hugely appreciated!
This is building to be such a powerful source of real ‘public evidence’ of what is going on …. and horrors that have been previously suffered, over long periods and in desperate private isolation, have never emerged beyond facebook etc. With this petition there is rare opportunity to be formally published – and together the harrowing accounts are building up such a clear and compelling picture.

What might be even better is a suggestion about Evidence and Data .. as per Tim’s suggestion

We should Back Up our Submissions with as much evidence as we can collect

This gives the strongest indication that we know what we are talking about and we need to wake up the world with all this work which has gone on above and behind the scenes which is fairly difficult to argue with ..

Annie, Thank you. This is so very important. “They” must have access to THE REAL EVIDENCE.

Our vulnerability to reprisal from psychiatry does not stop with expert confirmation that there never was any mental illness, and that all erroneous “diagnoses” were due to failure to identify SSRI induced akathisia and then a multiplicity of life threatening ADRs – which were also misdiagnosed.

A psychiatric label is a “Label for Life” and we have seen this cause exile from every rewarding and fulfilling hope, dream and expectation for life.

These labels can never be challenged, and become multiple “diagnoses” as a result of the institutionalised denial of psychotropic drug toxicity.

A pharma-marketing, propaganda-derived denial which is endemic amongst those who prescribe, enforce, maim and kill with psychotropic drugs.

Now that we have access to uncorrupted, ethical and accurate deconstruction of these fraudulent, ghost written psycho-pharmaceutical trials – (Corrupted, data-manipulated “scientific literature” presented to our politicians by “Expert Advisers” as evidence proving SSRIs are: “Safe and Effective”):

Some doctors should REFRAIN from bullying people who have been severely impacted by these medications.
Did people ask for poor health?
It is just a power imbalance that is out of control.
Do some health professionals feel threatened by strong, assertive individuals who don’t take everything they say as gospel?
Goodness, gracious!
There is nothing civil about mistreating individuals so that it can make some poor misguided individual feel better!
We did not ask for poor health!
Democracy is all about speaking up about issues that may impact all.
It is quite evident that some people get mistreated for speaking up.
Are we learning from past mistakes?
It saddens me to know that people are being mistreated because some professionals lack the integrity to do the right thing.
More compassion is required to better understand why some people are in the dismal situations they are in today.
Daryl’s story can be anyone’s story.
We do not hear of those who suffer in silence.
Change can only come about when the negative culture changes.
No one should have to tolerate poor service from any health provider.

I have been exploring the way that patients are ‘being treated’, misbelieved and seriously bullied/abused by the medical system … and I keep coming back to guidance for doctors (especially GPs) about their patients with multiple symptoms…. and the resulting breadown of the doctor/patient relationships.
I have come to believe that the roots are here – in the questionnaires devised by Spitzer et al ‘with a grant from Pfizer’…..
Most especially the PHQ-15 – for ‘diagosing somatic symptoms’ ….. which seems to include all the awful symptoms of psych drug-induced multi-system damage/malfuction.
Found this today: http://www.oacbdd.org/clientuploads/Docs/2010/Spring%20Handouts/Session%20220j.pdf

I work as a medic and agree that the majority of cases of depression are not at a level warranting anti-depressant treatment first-line. People come in asking for help, and accessing psychological support can take months on the NHS. Many people can’t afford to pay privately. We can direct people to self-help tools and charitable organisations but often patients aren’t satisfied with this despite it often being the best solution. I agree that PHQ-9 is not a diagnostic tool and I don’t know any doctors who use it as anything other than a tool to refer patients for counselling, for which it is usually requested.

This probably stems from its inclusion in the NICE guidelines. I do wonder about the sources used here, DM.

LucieP, Leeds, United Kingdom, 8 months ago

Drs have been lying to patients for years, anyone told they have a chemical imbalance or that they need prozac like diabetics need insulin have been seriously misled and should research this. Severe clinical depression is thankfully a rare illness, im talking about the poor souls too ill to dress or walk or eat and only this group should be prescribed medication, my psychiatrist told me that if a big cheque or a new job or relationship would make you feel better then you are not suffering from true depression. These are not benign drugs they have brought misery to thousands when they try and come off them and the patient is almost always blamed. Yes they have saved lives but have also ruined many.

Dr David Healy is the only psychiatrist in the UK to stand up and tell the truth about these destructive drugs

The copyright for the PHQ-9 was formerly held with Pfizer, who provided the educational grant for Drs Spitzer, Williams and Kroenke who originally designed it.[1] This is no longer the case and no permission is required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute the PHQ-9.

Some of these doctors need locking up i swear to god! They actually do! They cause a lot of misery and suffering and they severely damage peoples lives!

The amount of misery and hell i have been through because of being yanked off benzodiazepines too quickly and going through years of withdrawal because of it, and the PSSD which i still live with everyday.

I cant even put into words how bad it has all been. It nearly totally destroyed me, and i came close to ending my life at one point. People have no idea how bad it actually is.

Things CANNOT keep going like this.

I am still VERY angry about everything that has happened to me. And i am still VERY, VERY, angry with the dismissive, jeering, arrogant attitude i have had to endure off doctors for the last 10 years who still refuse to acknowledge or accept any of the damage that has been done to me.

The damage to my life has been so bad, so protracted, and every step of the way i have been left to deal with it all on my own, with no help whatsoever, apart from my mum to encourage me on when i have felt close to suicide.

In fact i can easily say i have found the response from the GP’s, psychiatrists, AWP, to actively worsen the experience of me suffering from the aftermath of these drugs. Sometimes there has been actual deliberate intent to cause insult to injury especially in regards to the PHSO, and some people working for AWP (Avon Wiltshire Partnership trust).

How can people treat other people so badly. And they do it with impunity. The SEAP complaints organisation that helps you complain to the PHSO when things go wrong with your treatment, have told me of health trusts openly laughing and saying “go to the ombudsman then” because they know in 96% of cases the PHSO comes down in favour of the health trusts.

It is a deeply flawed and unfair system that can be brutally cruel to anyone damaged by these drugs, and in my experience, and many others, the system will heap insult to injury , often in a systematic and deliberate way, often throwing in some unnecessary nastiness for good measure.

Its enough to drive someone to murder.

In a lot of ways i feel my life has already been ruined. I havent been able to feel my penis or have any sexual feelings for 10 years now, and there is no guarantee this will ever change. And my life has been damaged in so many different ways by these drugs, and i have lost so much. 10 years of my life wiped out by these drugs, and the benzodiazepine withdrawals and the PSSD. My whole youth gone, and i can never get those years back, or the many different opportunities i missed out on.

I have not had a single day in the last 10 years where i have felt genuinally happy about anything. Every week i still have thoughts of suicide because of the PSSD. And when does it all end? Can someone please tell me when i can feel my genitals again, and have some sexual feelings again?

I cannot believe how deep the rabbit hole goes with this stuff. I have had my eyes fully opened to the horrors these drugs can cause, and the way the system will cover it up and gang up on you, and make you out to be the problem. It is very real!

I still wake up most mornings thinking this has got to be all a bad dream, but then i realise my genitals are numb, and i am completely asexual without any sexual thoughts or feelings. Every morning i wake up and think “i cant believe i have PSSD”.

I still cant believe this is real and has been allowed to happen to me, and no one apart from Rxisk is trying to do anything about it, or cares, as long as they are alright, and are getting their slice of the pie.

Its complete profit and greed at the expense of peoples lives. And they know they are doing it, and its all government sponsored, and they are getting rich while we live miserable lives, or die prematurely, or kill ourselves when we cant take it anymore.

There should be a lot of people in prison for all the misery caused and lives lost. These are real peoples lives we are talking about. People who have families and people who care for them. People who had hopes and dreams, and might of been the next Einstein or Mozart if they had the chance to flourish away from these drugs.

I am sorry if this post has come off as an angry rant, but today i am feeling particularly angry about it all!

I feel like you most days the system is seriously corrupt like you I didn’t think that this could happen to me it’s truly frightening what goes on untill you’ve been through it a lay person wouldn’t believe you they would think your a conspiracy nut etc.
This site Risk is a great thing the more people that unite and have there say tell there experiences The more chance off us getting some real recognition.
A lyric from a Bob Marley tune sums it up it goes these are the days when will trod through Babylon were going to keep treading till Babylon falls.
Like us we’ve got to keep Talking untill were heard to break down the barriers wall off denial etc

Sadly, Marion, these questionnaires do not address any concerns the patients may have about how some medical professionals mistreat their patients.
Many medications cause issues that are not all somatoform based.
Some are very real and very debilitating and the only ones who know, are the patients themselves.
One, if wise, does not need a questionnaire to know when someone’s health has been impacted.
If one never had health issues before they ingested the medication(s), they should take complaints seriously.
It concerns me when patients are seen but not heard.
Pfizer, should come up with a questionnaire on how patients feel after they have seen a medical professional or had a procedure.
If we want optimum service, or improvements to our health care system,we should be demanding it! ~listen to what the people want.
Anyone, can tick whatever box they want depending on what mood they are in, that day.
This is not only vague but inaccurate, ineffective and dangerous.
A questionnaire, like this does not substantiate to a solid diagnosis.
Indeed, a very poor benchmark that creates a lot of confusion between doctor and patient.
Some professionals have forgotten to use all their senses to better understand what a patient feels and what they suffer from.
If you are not in that patients shoes, no questionnaire will get down to the bottom of what damage these meds are capable of inducing.
Sadly, we are not privy to some vaulted information pertaining to a particular medicine.
In some cases, it is better for drug companies to make the patient seem flawed then acknowledge that a particular medicine has caused harm, injury or death.
Blaming the patient for something that caused harm, is not the answer!
Thank you for bringing this one to our attention, Marion.
I hope that not all professionals use this as a means of putting all patients on medication.
Some may tick all the boxes and appear to be relatively fine however, the following day someone may end their life.
Listening, believing and understanding combined with compassion and empathy, results in a harmonious patient/doctor relationship.
One does not have to agree with everything a patient puts forth and vice versa.
There can be a balanced, harmonious patient/doctor relationship when one better understands without the superiority or indifference.
In some cases, a pill does not equate to better outcomes.
A willingness to hear and understand how many cope is worth more than a written script.
Caring and hearing, is all part of healing sometimes we have to take the time to listen and put the script away and give the patient solid tools that are going to benefit them in the long run.

I am writing in support of this petition while living with long-term effects from having taken a benzodiazepine as prescribed for 8 years. I had specifically asked if becoming addicted was a risk of taking the medication and was told by the prescribing doctor that it was not. Because I never abused the drug, the dependence I developed was not taken seriously, and when I asked for help to discontinue the drug I was dismissed.

I didn’t know about tapering or have any help, so I quit cold-turkey and have never been the same. If I’d had help with this I may have avoided the long-term injury. For the past two decades I have had medication side-effects and withdrawal damage repeatedly diagnosed as mental illness and/or malingering, when the effects of this drug should be well known. These have been deeply humiliating experiences. Because my condition is unacknowledged in the medical field, and cannot be attributed to fibromyalgia or any other condition that people with drug injuries are sometimes diagnosed with, and because I am wary of further treatment with pharmaceuticals, I receive neither a recognized diagnosis nor disability status.

Looking back years from now, the world will recognize the insanity of what humans have done to humans, in our time, in the name of professional medicine. Might the Scottish Government be credited as having been one of the first to offer a sane response to what injured patients have reported, or will they choose to sit by while members of their society continue to be gutted for profit? Tomorrow’s history is written today. I hope you will write carefully. I hope you will write well.

Hi Laurie o just see you post and thought I would post a quick reply I was put on Seroxat at the age off 20 told it was safe etc non addictive was stuck on it 13 years came off (worst experience off my life) 6 years later still not right at all never been the same mentally and physically last month told I have fibromyalgia its all denied by doctors etc like you told its mental illness and treated like the physical symptoms are in your head your a nut job well you are when you come off this sh@t it sends you radio rental.
What can I say it’s absolutely disgusting feel like two thirds off my souls been erased and life is extremely hard when your trying to be who you were before these charlatans gave us these poisons. It’s bad science and as far as I can see these so called cures /treatments lead to a lot worse outcomes for some very vulnerable people. We have been lab rats I’m afraid by the ones who were meant to care.I don’t take any tablets anymore and every day is a mission to survive.I totally no where your coming from you are not alone and I believe what’s happened to you. Having other people believe you relating with you goes a long way when your faced with so called medical experts denying what you have experienced is real. I have been through unimaginable hell like many others and experienced the sheer frustration off being told the pills are harmless no withdrawal etc when you feel like your dieing it’s a dark dark place .l hope one day we get the recognition we deserve that this isn’t some somatic manifestation neurosis but we have been damaged by there own hands the ones we put the trust off our health in. Take care Karl

Karl, thank you. We may never get back to who and how we might have been, but I think we can move forward in ways that at least give us meaning and hopefully a halfway decent life. Honestly, in my case I had a lot of problems to begin with, not health problems, but problems coping with life, etc. (Those were then compounded by meds). Life is hard either way, and much harder when what we’re dealing with isn’t even recognized as happening. Bless you and thanks so much for expressing solidarity.

I believe that this is all very significant indeed. These references may also be useful for people who are describing their own experiences of how they have been ‘treated’ by their doctors, psychiatrists, neurologists etc.

It is becoming evident that the types of serious neurotoxic damage/dysfunction that people are experiencing – as a result of the psych meds – is becoming ‘diagnosed’ as Functional Neurological Disorder of ‘unknown aetiology’ (i.e. ‘unknown cause’).

The doctors Tabitha has seen don’t believe that withdrawal can cause the severe symptoms Tabitha listed. The only psychiatrist she could find to back up her claims is Dr Healy, who’s dedicated his time to researching the effects of Venlafaxine’s withdrawal symptoms. Dr Healy wrote a letter to Tabitha’s GP confirming that she was experiencing intense withdrawal symptoms, but Tabitha says she’s still not receiving any help.

‘I told two GPs that I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms from Venlafaxine. One didn’t comment but agreed to refer me to see Dr Healy, the other disagreed even once I had written evidence from Dr Healy.’

Doctors Tabitha has seen believe that the symptoms she’s experiencing are not the result of coming off Venlafaxine, but are simply her original condition returning. We spoke to a psychiatrist with experience in Venlafaxine, Dr Cosmo Hallstrom, who told us that it’s one of the most popular antidepressants out there, and is generally regarded as the most effective.

He does admit, however, that there’s a chance some people may experience genuine withdrawal – but recommends a simple ‘test, retest’ as a way to check it out.

‘But if it is withdrawal, when they start taking the drug again their symptoms should disappear within 24 or 48 hours. That’s a simple test.’

What if the patients been off and reinstating makes them feel worse which is often the case where your to far into withdrawal and your body now rejects the drug the patient is then stuck in physical and mental hell. These doctors seriously haven’t got a clue I can’t believe this goes on and on when I think how many lives are being destroyed by these drugs it’s seriously frightening. Medicine has realy gone down hill it’s all about money these days not helping people it’s a money spinner and even the people prescribing it are brainwashed into thinking there helping. If they got off there inflated ego soap boxes when confronted with a patients dilemma and done some research into the patient horror stories the science behind these drugs that has been debunked seratonin theory etc they might think twice before dishing this crap out that would be a start. But what does a lay person average joe like us know they would be thinking more than most off them I would say because we’ve been there got the t shirt.
I read this article about the lady Tabitha in the metro and so many off her symptoms I could relate to the crushing pains in her head constantly for two years I had this for four constantly made worse by bright light as well as the feelings off things moving in her head I also had it like she described it is truly terrifying and constant.But the worse is the denial she described by her doctors saying it wasn’t the venlafaxine withdrawal but migraines.I also was told I had migraines the same as her after having an eeg and Mri because I had so much pain in my head for years i was so desperate I also believe I had many small seizures and after these would have large ruptured blood vessels in my eyes this went on for years jumping out my bed at night with zaps going through my head clinging to my headboard these went on for months then years it’s truly like somthing out off a horror film no one could believe it could exist unless you’ve been there.I also lost a few stone in weight I looked terrible I slept an hour a night for 18 months this is no exaggeration no history off insomnia left my job off ten years at one point I was convinced I’d never sleep again. It’s so inhuman and when your told its not the tablets they have given you I can easily see how one could be driven to suicide or even murder. I totally relate to this lady and pray she gets better how can doctors do this to people and then just disbelieve there patients cry for help. Is it because they are so ignorant or is it because there denial makes them sleep better at night. As Annie above says these tablets are a trap that many don’t seem to escape and the ones that do are not always the same again and your left with the realisation off the horrific things that happen to people that you would have never believed in your wildest dreams. Like the scene in the film the matrix ignorance is bliss is what it’s like whilst on these pills but when you come off the reality is very hard to bare.

It beggars belief how deliberatly obtuse and slow to understand these doctors can be.

You would think with all their medical degrees they would have cottoned on to the fact that a lot of times these drugs cause more harm than good by now.

If we “lay people” can work it out quite quickly, what is stopping them?

I remember the year after i developed OCD i saw a number of GP’s who almost begged me to take SSRI’s, imploring me to listen to them, and that they know best in regards to what treatment i needed.

I had a gut instinct that something was a bit off or wrong with SSRI’s, and for about a year after developing OCD, i resisted taking them.

Then i had a really bad day, and my OCD was as bad as ever, and i thought ” why not give it a try”.

I have been in hell ever since.

I remember the day i first took citalopram. It was an evening in November 2007. I was standing by my mums computer in her living room, and i swallowed the tablet with a glass of water. I then sat down at the computer and went on social media/ my space.

After about half an hour of taking the tablet, i remember feeling a bit nauseaus, but that was about it. After about another hour i went up to my room, and a little while later ended up masturbating.

I remember i didnt feel as much fantasy when masturbating, and when i had an orgasm it was almost pleasureless, and the orgasm seemed to take a different path in my brain than it normally does.

I thought this was all just a temporary side effect, and wasn’t too worried at the time. If i only knew that at over 10 years later i would still be suffering no libido, pleasureless orgasms, and numb genitals, i dont know how i would have dealt with it.

The citalopram seemed to do most of its damage to my sexual desire/ functioning on the first day i took it.

I still cant believe a prescription drug given to me by a doctor has managed to screw up my life and cause more misery to me than any other bad thing i have ever experienced in life, even if you were to add up all the other bad things that have happened to me collectively.

Carla your comment about patients being “seen but not heard” is spot on.

I feel like as a patient i have repeatedly been treated like how a child was treated in the victorian era. Like someone who’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions simply “cannot be taken seriously”. It is very patronising, and can cause a rift in the relationship between a doctor and a patient.

I remember one particularly bad experience i had with a doctor once. It was with a cardiologist. I had been having a lot of dizzy spells when i was 21, and i had been referred to see a cardiologist, as my GP thought i had some of the characteristics of marfans syndrome.

I did some tests with a nurse and after that the doctor came back to speak to the nurse. I then asked a simple question to the doctor about how well the tests could predict that i had marfans syndrome.

I will never forget the look of indignity on the cardioligists face as he almost yelled at me “DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MEDICINE”.

Then he didnt answer my question, but briefly spoke to the nurse assistant that had helped with the tests, and then walked off into another room without giving me any further notice or attention.

Dr Morris said she was “absolutely astonished” by the way Prof Healy had interpreted the literature on antidepressants.

However, Prof Healy told a global health conference in Aberdeen that – in 29 paediatric clinical trials of antidepressants – every single one failed to produce an obvious benefit.

He said: “At the same time, in every single one of these trials it has produced more harms than benefits in the sense that it has made children become suicidal who wouldn’t have become suicidal if they hadn’t been put on these drugs.”

Prof Healy said: “We have a situation where if you are following the evidence …

Sunayana Shah, head of regulatory and safety policy at the ABPI, said: “Any decision to prescribe antidepressant medicines is one made between a clinician and a patient or their guardian before a drug is prescribed and while treatment is ongoing.”

Ms Shah said SSRI antidepressants were “one of the most studied classes of medicines” and they are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

“However, if substantial new information on side effects or effectiveness becomes available, it will be rigorously reviewed by the medicines regulators to assess whether the treatment is still suitable,” she said.

We now have a deadline of 15 February for the next tranche of submissions – if they are to be considered in advance of planning the next Petition Committee hearing (date as yet unscheduled).

If you – and /or anyone else that you know of who may be interested – would like to make a (further) submission (send to petitions@parliament.scot – max 3 A4 pages and quoting ref: PE01651 in subject line) this would be welcomed.

David Carmichael
3 hrs ·

A week ago, RxISK published this blog post about Psychotropic Drug Dependence in Scotland. The petition is precedent setting, globally. A website has been set up for the petition and “where linked to healthcare or someone who has been put on antidepressant or related psychotropic drug, go on the website and make a submission. You can be from anywhere in the world.”

I have still not heard anything and have emailed a couple of times about will my submission be uploaded or need names changing for it to be and the deadline of the 15th is fast approaching. I did just get an email saying it has arrived and the clerk will review it and get in contact but the deadline is fast approaching I am getting worried my point will not get taking in to account like I originally feared.

I emailed again, I hope they get in touch or upload as soon as possible considering that deadline.

Hi Daryl
I believe that there a quite a number of submissions still ‘in the pipeline’ (and more coming in!). I understand that the clerks are gradually working their way through them all. I don’t think they will all be uploaded by end 15 Feb – that is the deadline for us to send submissions, for subsequent processing and committee consideration.
So… don’t be too surprised if it all takes a while! They will likely suggest alternatives to directly naming any institutions – but they will email you to discuss before publication.

Would it nudge the regulators 13 managers and their teams to do what they are supposed to do if all the information collated by Rxisk and sent to the Welsh and Scottish Assemblies was also sent to the Regulators? Their reponse is possibly predictable but reporting as individuals is a waste of time. Many medics and chemists don’t report not least because they need to keep the evidence of harms under wraps – The Welsh and Scottish Assemblies also surely have a duty to be forwarding the information they have received to the regulator.
There is a note on the regulators’ site – ‘if you have any queries on reporting new literature for ADRs e mail ‘pharmacovigilance@mhra.gov.uk’ – well there is plenty and it needs to be recorded by them with a response
‘If dissatisfied with the response contact Chris Penny 0203 0806511’

The Welsh and Scottish petitions are referenced in BMJ rapid response published today, in response to “Should action take priority over further research on public health?” : http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k292/rr

On a cold wet February day what better to think about than a trip to Sicily in the spring. Culture, history, exquisite food and wine, but also the 5th Maudsley Mediterranean Forum, where the science of psychiatry and psychology meets the warm sea.

The ‘warm’ sea is sitting at home doing the research/donkey work that you lot should be doing not idling and dreaming of Pal ermo with 70 odd.

Thus, in this tradition of new learning and new experiences, 5th MMF will provide an update on social, psychological and biological aspects of psychiatric disorders, reviewing both advances in understanding the disorders and exciting new methods of treatment.

Please, no, not more exciting methods of treatment. I think we all got enough excitements and see ‘no evidence’ of understanding the ‘disorders’.

The Sicilian Mafia connection, of course, makes it the ideal venue ..

“The Mafia is oppression, arrogance, greed, self-enrichment, power and hegemony above and against all others. It is not an abstract concept, or a state of mind, or a literary term… It is a criminal organization regulated by unwritten but iron and inexorable rules… The myth of a courageous and generous ‘man of honor’ must be destroyed, because a mafioso is just the opposite.”
— Cesare Terranova, Italian Magistrate murdered in 1979

“Antidepressants can be the most effective treatment for young people with depressive disorders,” says @RCPsychScot’s Dr Jane Morris, rebutting claims they do more harm than good http://bbc.in/2nzFUPR @JohnHMCrichton @linda_findlay @wendyburn @ShelleyJofre @BBCScotlandNews

Medications called ‘antidepressants’ are usually used for this condition. They need to be prescribed by specialist child and adolescent psychiatrists after a careful assessment. If you are given medication, you may need physical health check-up beforehand, and then you will need regular check-ups once you have started on the medication.

Medications are usually given for few months and sometimes may need to be taken for a longer time. It is important that if you are prescribed medication that you take it the way it has been prescribed for you ( i.e the right dose and timing).

Medicines that harm are a form of terrorism assaulting our bodies.
Some practitioners that bully, harass, assault, accost or defame ones healthy mind or vulnerable individuals, is a violation of basic human rights.
Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity or respect.
Everyone is entitled to proper treatment and care.

It seems very strange to me, that once your eyes are wide open to what is really going on, that the whole system seems to be bullying those who speak the truth.
The system that ‘so called, cares’, only seems to be interested in profits and if people get harmed or injured, it is no ones problem!
You are on your own.
The system is in desperate need of change.
GET RID OF THE BULLIES and those who are making a mockery of our health care system.
Placing the blame on patients when things go wrong, is not the answer.
People in the health care system and those who are responsible for better health care, need to be held accountable, if they abuse their power and innocent people get harmed.
People matter and if we can’t get this simple equation right, what is the point of having a health care system that is built on unstable foundations.

Feedback about the Know Your Drugs program over the last few months has made it clear that it needs to be global and the video presentation needs to better explain why it’s so important for people to be knowledgeable about prescription drug side effects. Know Your Drugs is now a global awareness campaign

RxISK.org is a free, independent website where people can research prescription drugs and report a drug side effect – identifying problems and possible solutions when it might still be possible to intervene and find a solution.

Study 329 became the poster child for the insanely widespread practice of “outcome switching”. The journal have never retracted it. They effectively argued that the practice is so widespread that it’s unreasonable to single them out. Oh medicine, you mess.

In the Health and Social Services Debate 14th Feb at the Welsh Assembly amongst a lot of time wasting rehearsal of information already well known and not acted upon (the whole debate is on a web cam)Caroline Jones of UKIP made a contribution worth listening to. She clearly stated that the over adverse effects caused by over prescribing of prescription drugs have contributed to a massive increase in suicide – now at a rate of 30 deaths per month. The lack of consultants , 6 per 100,000 of the population was flagged up but so was the poor quality of training for GPs which leads to worsening of mental health symptoms and prescibing of drugs ‘which leave them feeling much worse and a huge increase in suicide’. Maybe she wouldn’t have been as forthright if she had been in government but respect to her for being so forthright.

In the dream i was an old man and i still had PSSD, and the doctors still didnt believe that i had PSSD, or that it existed.

My mother had died years ago, and no one else in my family talked to me (i dont have a good relationship with a lot of my family as they are very judgemental). I had tried to tell them that i had PSSD at one point, but they wouldn’t believe me, and i had been ostracised by them. I felt very lonely in the dream.

I realised i had gone through almost my entire life without being able to feel sexual pleasure, or have any sexual feelings.

I had a huge sense of regret about how much of life i had missed out on because of the PSSD, and now it was too late.

No one believed me about PSSD, and no one cared how my life had been ruined by the condition.

I felt such internal angst in the dream, almost like an internal scream that no one would believe or listen to me, coupled with the knowledge that my life had been ruined by PSSD and now it was too late, as i was an old man.

I felt total defeat.

The dream was awful, and it took hours for the feelings around the dream to fade after waking.

I was alerted to this blog through David H’s contribution to the documentary about James Holmes. It seems there may be similarities behind the reasons Nicolas Cruz has so sadly killed many children in a school shooting in Florida. Nicolas is said to be autistic and was expelled from school for misbehaving. He was flagged up on several occasions as needing help – including putting up a video showing him cutting himself. He was described as depressed unsurprisingly and was kown to mental health services. If he was on prescription drugs which can lead to violence it is unlikely this will be used in his defence – even if it is considered at all. He has already admitted guilt to avoid the death sentence. There is a growing willingness by people to admit feelings of self harm and suicide but the tiniest minority are likely to admit feelings of violence. The only way to stop the potential of prescription induced violence is to ban them. They have become as potentially dangerous as issuing guns. In UK children are being excluded from school when they have diagnoses of autism and mental health or behvioural problems They need extra help which isn’t being funded. What would the situation be here if angry , neglected and hurting children had access to guns?

There must be so many of us whose thoughts and heartaches first yearn to reach out to those lost, terribly injured – (physically, emotionally and psychologically) – to somehow offer words of sorrow to parents and relatives.
To the teachers and staff, and their loved ones.

Then our minds immediately turn to the same, same question:
“What was he taking”?

Without documenting precisely, every detail of the timing, dose-changes, drug discontinuations and drug introductions, random drug switches, and then fastidiously correlating the drug timeline with induced changes in thinking, changes in emotions and changes in behaviours; nothing can be learned.

There must be documentation of toxicities which are associated with distress, extreme agitation, and with problems functioning socially, problems working, problems with family and other activities.

Without such recording, none of these devastating school shootings can ever be adequately investigated.

For the same reasons of omission, no coroner’s suicide verdict is valid or meaningful in producing insight and understanding.
The coroner will continue to ignore and neglect the future preventive opportunity.

In this regard, how can any coroners court be considered fit-for-purpose?

A meticulous prescription drug record must be published as a fundamental component of both these instruments of inquiry.

Cumulative prescription drug data would not only provide accuracy, truth, insight and understanding.
It would be of immense power in producing more informed, more considered, and less dangerous prescribing.

How can there be any hope of learning and any hope of prevention when a so called “Investigation” denies the opportunity to assess to what degree prescription drug induced violence may have contributed to, or have been the cause of such incomprehensible suffering and such overwhelming, terrible loss?

Is it too much to hope that the Scottish Inquiry into Prescription Drug Dependence might recognise the failure of their coroners to address these fundamental inquest requirements upon which diligence and accuracy are entirely dependent?

Brilliantly put Tim.
‘ the coroner will continue to ignore and neglect the future preventive opportunity’…..
So many of us have attended inquests for our lost loved ones and have marvelled at what coroners seemingly did not want to know or could not ‘legally’ pass on, which we gave them, for collective information, leading to, as you say, ‘future preventive opportunity’. Coroners are responsible presumably to the Head Coroner, and he/she then to the Government in power? You would think coroners would be eager to learn, dig for the true facts of a case, and raise merry hell if things were not transparent and helpful to humanity. There must be other agendas here though, of which we are unaware, just as with the Ombudsmen procedures which seem stacked against the complainants and anyway whose decisions can ultimately be over ruled by unelected Government actuaries. We trust in these institutions but probably they are less pristine as we’d like to think. There are cheats everywhere, and if you scratch their surface, it won’t be long until you find the stash of cash or the backhanders which will lead to elevated positions and yet more power. This is surely a world becoming madder with every passing moment.

Heather, you suggest that the world is getting madder – I would like to think that we, the lay men, are getting wiser. I guess that money has always talked people out of trouble or silenced those in power if that was a better path. The generations before us may have been too trusting – a doctor’s word would not be questioned; it was considered bad manners to question anyone of a higher ranking than yourself – you had to know your ‘place’ in society, and accept it. That is not so nowadays – thankfully. We are allowed to question – as long as we don’t dig too deep! We can voice an opinion against mainstream thoughts – as long as we are prepared to face the consequences.
Dare we hope that the next generation will be allowed to question and dig as deep as they wish without adverse consequences? That their opinions will at least be listened to and openly discussed?
It is a great shame on the whole of our society, I feel, that many of us still prefer to keep themselves cocooned from the realities of the many wrongdoings heaped upon us by those in power who should be serving their ‘fellow men’ – both in law and government – rather than opening their minds to what exactly is happening all around us.

Hi Spruce,
Sadly for some, being ostracised is a reality.
Once those who do the dirty on you, one knows exactly who your real friends are!
I find it refreshing to be away from the troublemakers and the ones who spread vexatious lies about people.
My philosophy is very basic:
Spending time alone is better than wasting it with the wrong company.
There are mean spirited people everywhere and like Spruce mentioned:
its institutional, organised, collective, and deliberate bullying of some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Amid all the usual fuss about guns, important information about Nikolas Cruz, the alleged Florida shooter, is as usual obscured.

So here it is. The Miami Herald spoke to his aunt, Barbara Kumbatovic, who said ‘I know he did have some issues, and he may have been taking medication.’ Other reports speak of him having received ‘treatment’ for mental problems – which almost invariably means powerful mind-altering drugs, often known to cause suicidal or violent thoughts.

Can I make this simple point again? The USA has always had freely-available guns, indeed they used to be more freely available than they are now. It has had schools, and racialist fanatics too, for more than a century. Yet these school massacres are a feature of the modern era.

And what is new about the modern era? Two things: the widespread use of illegal mind-altering drugs, especially marijuana; and the even more widespread use of legal mind-altering drugs, especially SSRI ‘antidepressants’, but also steroids and ‘ADHD’ drugs, often amphetamines which are illegal in any other circumstances.

It was revealed the other day that the three London Bridge killers Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane, and Youssef Zaghba, had taken ‘large quantities’ of steroids before their crimes last June. Steroids had also been taken by Khalid Masood, the Westminster murderer, and by Omar Mateen, the Orlando night-club mass murderer, and by Anders Breivik, the Norway mass killer.

Almost every terror killer in Europe in the past few years has been a cannabis user. You might also like to know that SSRI ‘antidepressants’ were used by at least one of the Columbine High School killers. The other’s medical records are sealed, though there are strong indications that he too was taking such pills.

This is nothing like a complete list. It would be longer still if the authorities showed any interest in this fascinating and important correlation, but as yet they do not.

Quite often, those who end up on prescription pills became mentally ill after using marijuana, which is increasingly correlated with mental trouble. Police nowadays no longer bother to pursue this crime, so it is quite possible for it to go unrecorded

All this may be totally irrelevant. But then again, it may be important. In which case, we need to act. Once again, I offer these facts in the hope that someone in government or Parliament will hold the inquiry into this connection which is so badly needed.

So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!

The world was truly horrified as to what the nazis did during the war to the human race and yet here we are nearly 70 years on and the pharmaceutical company’s are doing the same to man kind many people are given antidepressants and benzos for the wrong reason and now because of a huge over use we are seeing people die as overprescribing cocktails of these medications are handed out and lack of knowledge to the damage that they can cause by the people who prescribe them , the ingnorance of doctors and phyciatrist is unbelievable I have been left with severe depression and a multitude of unbearable physical symptoms and perhaps the worst is the suicidal thoughts every day for over 12 months now every single doctor and phyciatrist I have spoken to over the last 4 years denies any of this is to do with withdrawel and will not acknowledge that I have been harmed I am told it’s the depression resurfacing again but I never had any of this before antidepressants I am now of all medication coming up to a year now I have no life I have lost everything dear to me my life has gone it has been taken away from me and I have been made to suffer a horrendous torturous life , I refer back to my opening statement why is the world shocked by what the nazis did to human beings when it is happening now by our doctors who administers us with poisons that kill us or leave us in a world of despair I couldn’t inflict anymore pain or suffering on anyone if I tried our human rights have been taken away from us by those we trusted I was told the chemical imbalance thing and the same thing as a diabetic needs insulin as so many others have reported which we know is a big lie . So why is this atrocity allowed to go on what did I do that was so bad only to trust my doctor that anyone would want to inflict this much suffering on me I witness so much suffering of others but to the medical profession it’s all hushed up with excuses and lies yet they can continue to prescribe as if we don’t matter . I am not saying that doctors are bad they are not they are professional people trying to help people live a normal life but they have access to some of the most powerful and damaging drugs and their knowledge of them is so limiting if they had any knowledge of them then they would see the damage they are causing , doctors who recognise ‘‘tis problem like doctor Healy are far and few between even my own doctor ridicules me when I mention his knowledge of withdrawel they say dr Healy is wrong and it’s only speculation so where do we go we are outcasts , I fear for my life perhaps I will die at my own hands as the suicidal urges seem to be my only way of relief but also the lack of knowledge and respect I get from the medical profession who have harmed me but now don’t want to help me or can’t we need change and fast

I just don’t know how those who take a ‘so called interest ‘in public safety go to sleep at night.
The health ombudsmen, together with any other dodgy organizations, are interested in feathering their own nests and making the one who put in the complaint seem like a criminal.
Who are we rewarding in society?
Why have a complaints organization, if concerns are not taken seriously.
Sadly, if any poor soul speaks up about any human rights issues, we are maltreated.
What type of a world are we living in?

I agree Carla with everything you say we have all these organisations to help people, set up and funded by our governments but the moment you question a doctor or a phyciatrists ability to treat you the doors close on you . Our human rights don’t seem to matter the fact that these doctors have taken a oath to do no harm means nothing we are brushed aside and labelled mad we are the sufferers the victims so show us some respect and sympathy, money and power and greed comes before patients now the professional medical system really doesn’t care and the human rights groups are just silenced complaints organisation are only good if they speak out but they don’t take us serious, like you say what sort of world are we living in

Yes, Spruce, I understand all too well what you mean.
Politics is all too theatrical for me.
All you need is a clown outfit and a few juggling balls and next thing you know, you are part of the circus act!

Since when has it become a crime to stand up for your fellow being?
The reprisal that go along with doing such thing is just beyond my comprehension~
there are consequences for standing up for your fellow being, when it should be a natural, compassionate and humane thing to do.

The Welsh petition for Prescribed Drug Dependence recognition and support is looking for people based in Wales to tell their stories. The Welsh petitions team want to know more about our experiences of being dependent on prescribed drugs. However, they have set a clear boundary around wanting input from people whose experience is with the Welsh healthcare system. This means I am looking to reach people who live in Wales.

The Chair of the Petitions Committee, David Rowlands AM, has requested written evidence from people in Wales about their experience of Prescribed Drug Dependence and their opinions on what support services there are on offer and what could be improved. His letter states:

“The Committee has agreed to seek the views and experiences of people affected by this issue in Wales. We would be particularly interested in views in relation to the following:

1. Your experience of prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal.

2. What support services are available to people experiencing prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal, particularly in Wales, and whether these are sufficient?

3. The extent to which prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal is a recognised issue amongst health professionals and the general public.

4. Any actions that can be taken to improve the experience of those affected by prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal, including in terms of prevention, management and support.

Anyone reading this blog who has any contacts in Wales, please do what you can to help pass on this formal request for written evidence. The Committee is asking really good questions. Let’s give them some really good answers.